Yea I was 6th man when I played for my AAU team because coach's dad was the starter over me even tho I was clearly better at the time. It lets you see how the game is being played out so you can make your own adjustments before heading in yourself. Also, the opposing team may not know about you since you're a bench player, so you could use that to your advantage if the defense doubts you.

I was fortunate enough to grow up and play in areas that allowed me to be a starter for 97% of my basketball career, but the few times I came off the bench (five games my sophomore year, when adding late to a few rec. league teams), I actually kind of liked it.

On one hand, I didn't like it because it meant I wasn't starting and from a pride standpoint it hurt. But basketball-wise, if the overall playing time was still ample, coming off the bench made me feel like I was bringing a jolt of energy to the hardwood, as other players were likely beginning to become fatigued. Also, with the confidence of believing I was a starter-quality player, I often felt I'd be able to feast on folks, as I felt I'd be seeing at least a portion of a team's second unit.

In hindsight, I wonder if coming off the bench would have been good for my game energy in the long run. When starting, I sometimes struggled to really get my body up and going. Clearly psychological, but interesting to ponder.

When starting, I think I used to let myself mentally get lost in the shuffle sometimes, thinking, "Alright, the top 10 basketball players are all right here at the same time. I wonder how good everyone is." But again, coming off the bench, I sort of felt like a secret weapon, thinking, "They probably think I'm just a random guy coming off the bench, but it's about to get realer than they thought."